Either you’re all for a natural birth or you think that women who go that route are crazy. Really, why would any woman want to go through that much pain when they don’t have to? Well, I was one such ...

A person may choose to give birth naturally, without pain management medication, or with an epidural to block sensations of pain in the lower body. Each birthing option has its potential risks and ...

Pregnant women worry. They worry whether the baby is healthy; they worry if they’re eating right and avoiding everything that could possibly be harmful to the new life growing within. They also worry ...

A doula is a trained professional who provides continuous physical, emotional, and informational support to a mother before, during, and shortly after childbirth. Unlike midwives or obstetricians, ...

Michel Odent, a French obstetrician whose natural childbirth innovations, including homelike delivery rooms and birthing pools, aimed to make new mothers feel calm and secure, died Aug. 19 in London.

We are usually suspicious of pain-mongers. Think of the flinching reaction bringing up a "cutter" ensures. Sure, we are in awe of the guy who cut off his own arm to free himself from being trapped ...

Early in pregnancy, Molly Ercole already had an idea of what she wanted for her childbirth. "I didn't want to see a different doctor at every appointment," says Ercole, a non-profit ...

The demand for natural childbirth does not seem to be going away. In the United States, there are more than 350 free-standing (meaning that they are not inside hospitals) birthing centers, an 82 ...

Pregnant women are everywhere, but in a way it’s hard to see them. The pregnant woman’s body is shrouded in a veil of symbolism, made an object of our anxieties and hopes in a way that’s distinct and ...